Hensche taught students to "see the light, not the object," says his biographer Robichaux, who in this book reveals the basic painting philosophy and methodology of a great teacher.

Look around and select a subject that you can see painted. That will paint itself. Do the obvious thing before you do the superhuman thing. It may have been accidental, but you knew enough to let this alone. The good painter is always making use of accidents. Never try to repeat a success. Swing a bigger brush — you don’t know what fun you are missing. For 31 years, Charles Hawthorne spoke in this manner to students of his famous Cape Cod School of Art. The essence of that instruction has been collected from students’ notes and captured in this book, retaining the personal feeling and the sense of on-the-spot inspiration of the original classroom. Even though Hawthorne is addressing himself to specific problems in specific paintings, his comments are so revealing that they will be found applicable a hundred times to your own work. The book is divided into sections on the outdoor model, still life, landscape, the indoor model, and watercolor. Each section begins with a concise essay and continues with comments on basic elements: general character, color, form, seeing, posture, etc. It is in the matter of color that students will especially feel themselves in the presence of a master guide and critic. Hawthorne’s ability to see color and, more important, to make the student see color, is a lesson that will aid student painters and anyone else interested in any phase of art. Although it does not pretend to be a comprehensive or closely ordered course, this book does have much to offer. It also represents the artistic insight of one of the finest painter-teachers of the twentieth century. "An excellent introduction for laymen and students alike." — Time "To read these notes and comments … is in itself an education. One cannot help but gain great help." — School Arts

Learn to see and mix any color with extraordinary precision! Many painters don't paint what they see, but what they expect to see, what they think they see, what they remember, or what they imagine things are supposed to look like. Since "the mind stands in the way of the eye," the purpose of this revolutionary book is to train you to paint what your eye actually sees. Arthur Stern claims that color is key to painting what you see. After working with three generations of students, he developed a program of 22 painting projects that teach the artist to observe, identify, mix, match, and paint the colors of the world with remarkable accuracy. Using a painting knife and oil paint, you learn to analyze every painting subject as a series of distinct color areas—called color spots—and place each spot on the canvas as a unique and vivid mixture. The fundamental lesson of the book is that if you put the right color spot in the right place, you create a realistic image of form, space, surface texture, atmosphere, light, and shade. As you follow the painting projects in this book, you'll make the dramatic discovery that everything in nature is filled with luminous color. You'll learn to see glowing color in the "blackest" shadow and the "whitest" linen. You'll learn when a green can appear red; how to use paint to replicate metal, glass, wood, paper, porcelain, and other opaque, transparent, or textured surfaces. Before long, you'll be seeing a multitude of colors in a slice of bread, apples and oranges, and a mass of green leaves. You'll learn how to paint quickly enough to capture a "live" still life—a flower that moves and slowly dies as you paint it. You'll even practice with a setup outdoors to see how sunlight and skylight affect color. How to See Color and Paint It is a must for beginners and a valuable asset for intermediate artists who want to develop a more subtle perception of color. A final section contains beautiful paintings of many subjects that have grown out of projects and ideas taught in this book. 130 color plates; 40 black & white illustrations

Master Impressionism with an art-instruction classic. Impressionism has inspired generations of American artists. And no one has done more for the cause of American Impressionism than Charles Hawthorne, the founder of the Cape Cod School of Art. In Painting the Impressionist Landscape, author and artist Lois Griffel explores Hawthorne’s theories about color and light in depth. Griffel, the longtime director of the school Hawthorne founded, teaches his philosophy like no other painter can, with inspiring step-by-step painting lessons and illuminating text. A true classic of art instruction, Painting the Impressionist Landscape has sold more than 30,000 copies in hardcover in the fifteen years since it was first published. Now a new generation of painters can bring impressionism into their work with this convenient and affordable paperback edition.

Inspired to paint or enthralled by the world of portraiture A Little Book of Portraits: Beyond the Canvas accompanies the celebrated Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year series and includes sixty-four of the finest portraits painted during the competition with illuminating commentary from the three series judges: Tai Shan Schierenberg, Kathleen Soriano and Kate Bryan. The paintings featured in this book, include portraits of famous sitters, such as Juliet Stevenson and John Humphrys, self-portraits of the artists themselves and commissioned paintings of Hilary Mantel and Sophie Dahl. The judges approach each painting from a different angle and with a unique voice, reflecting their differing specialities within the art world. Between them they uncover the approach, style and effectiveness of each portrait whilst discussing the techniques critical to the success of the painter's brushwork, likeness and perspective. With a wide range of different mediums from oil to charcoal or even soil, the book takes us behind the finished portrait and into the myriad of processes that creates one great work of art. A Little Book of Portraits reveals the skills behind the artist's brush that makes timeless and inventive portraiture.